Hong Kong Bars Pro-Independence Candidate From Election

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Chan Ho-tin, a pro-independence Legislative Council candidate of the Hong Kong National Party, during a rally in Hong Kong on Saturday.CreditTyrone Siu/Reuters

By Austin Ramzy

July 30, 2016

HONG KONG — A political candidate in Hong Kong has been barred from running for office, after government officials said Saturday that his support for the territory’s independence from China made it impossible for him to uphold the legal duties of a lawmaker.

The candidate who was disqualified, Chan Ho-tin of the Hong Kong National Party, signed a pledge to uphold the Basic Law, the mini-constitution that has governed Hong Kong since the former British colony was returned to Chinese control in 1997.

But he refused to answer an election official’s follow-up questions about whether he would continue to push for Hong Kong’s independence from China. In a reply, posted online, he questioned whether the official had the right to ask such questions.

“The political views I hold and advocate are a matter solely for consideration by the voters,” Mr. Chan wrote in a letter on Tuesday.

In a statement released on Saturday, the government said a person who “advocates or promotes the independence” of Hong Kong “cannot possibly uphold the Basic Law or fulfill his duties as a legislator.”

Mr. Chan was running to represent the New Territories West district, a large expanse that includes outlying islands and parts of Hong Kong close to the mainland city of Shenzhen.

The Hong Kong National Party wrote in a statement that it was “truly proud” to be the “first party to be barred from a democratic election by the Communist colonial government of Hong Kong.”

A small number of independence activists have grown increasingly vocal in the two years since the Umbrella Movement protests, when thousands of people occupied key roadways for more than two months to push for a greater say in nominating candidates for the chief executive, Hong Kong’s top political office.

Under the terms of its return to Chinese control, Hong Kong is allowed to maintain a highly autonomous political and legal system. But many people here have grown worried about the possibility of a premature decline of the “one country, two systems” model and the erosion of the civil rights enjoyed by Hong Kong residents.

The government said the election pledge, announced just weeks ago, was meant to ensure that a candidate for office would be able to meet the requirements of the job, including swearing to uphold the Basic Law.

But some people questioned whether it was a sign of increasing influence from China’s central government, which has harshly prosecuted advocates of independence in the western regions of Tibet and Xinjiang.

Some political analysts also question whether such efforts to control pro-independence sentiments might only increase public support for them.

A poll released one week ago by the Chinese University of Hong Kong found that 17 percent of respondents somewhat or strongly supported Hong Kong independence after 2047, when the “one country, two systems” policy expires, while 58 percent were somewhat or strongly against independence.